Article of manufacture for improving safety on floating docks

ABSTRACT

An article of manufacture for improving the safety on floating docks alongside fixed landing decks or piers with a barrier affixed to the edge of the landing deck, fastening mechanism to mount the barrier to the landing deck, weights affixed to, or embedded into, the bottom part of barrier to ensure contact with the floating dock, and a guiding mechanism such as ropes affixed to landing deck and floating dock to ensure that barrier will always reconnect with the floating dock in case of separation.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

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STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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DESCRIPTION OF ATTACHED APPENDIX

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to the field of marine safety and morespecifically to an article of manufacture for improving safety onfloating docks. Floating docks are a standard feature along the coastline and on lakes and rivers. Access is usually provided by gangways orramps that rest on the floating dock, or via stairs or ladders from anstationary adjacent structure such as a landing deck, pier or house.This combination of stationary landing deck or pier and floating dock isvery common along the US East Coast.

The floating dock is held in place via dock brackets which allows forvertical movement whereas keeping the floating dock at a defineddistance from the landing deck. This gap is usually in the range of 3-6″between the two platforms. Depending on the water level in a lake orriver or the tidal hub on the coast line, the landing deck is usuallydesigned to be a certain height above the floating dock. As a resultthere will be gap between the lower end of the landing deck and thesurface of the floating dock. Waves will cause vertical movement of thefloating dock and increase or decrease this gap. Depending on the sizeof the gap and the magnitude of vertical movement, any object reachinginto this gap will get caught by this scissor-like contraption. This isa significant safety hazard for people and animals alike which has notbeen addressed so far.

Guard rails as disclosed for example in patents U.S. Pat. No. 6,702,259and U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,432 are a common feature of decks and walkwaysand would address this safety hazard if installed on the side of thefloating dock that faces the landing deck and at a minimum distance fromthe edge of the floating dock. Safety guards as disclosed for example inU.S. Pat. No. 3,740,022 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,839,824 are commonly used onloading docks and could be used on floating docks as well. The guardrails or barriers would need to be designed in a way that does not allowpeople or animals to reach through and could be, for example, made of atight mesh or a solid surface. The major disadvantage of these barriersolutions is that the safety hazard is not fully addressed. At lowerwater levels objects can still be caught between the top of the rail orbarrier and the landing deck. Another disadvantage of a guard rail orrigid barrier is that it will rise with the floating dock when waterlevels are rising and create an unsightly new tripping hazard.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the invention is to provide a safety device forfloating docks which prevents objects to fall into or to extend bodyparts through the gap between floating dock and landing deck.

Another object of the invention is to provide a safety device forfloating docks which works for rectangular, curved and angular floatingdocks.

Another object of the invention is to provide a safety device forfloating docks that follows the motion of floating docks without manualadjustment of the device.

Another object of the invention is to provide a safety device forfloating docks that is both a visual and physical barrier.

A further object of the invention is to provide a safety device forfloating docks that can be integrated into the design of landing decksand floating docks.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following descriptions, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, anembodiment of the present invention is disclosed.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, there isdisclosed an article of manufacture for improving the safety on floatingdocks comprising: a barrier affixed to the edge of the landing deck, afastening mechanism to mount the barrier to the landing deck, severalweights affixed to, or embedded into, the bottom part of barrier toensure contact with the floating dock, and a guiding device such aselastic ropes or wires affixed to landing deck and floating dock toensure that the barrier will always reconnect with the floating dock incase of separation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

The drawings constitute a part of this specification and includeexemplary embodiments to the invention, which may be embodied in variousforms. It is to be understood that in some instances various aspects ofthe invention may be shown exaggerated or enlarged to facilitate anunderstanding of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of the landing deck and floating dockand illustrates the danger the gap between the two structures poses.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the landing deck, floating dock andflexible barrier to illustrate the barrier function.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the flexible barrier attached to thethe landing deck at normal water level.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the flexible barrier attached to thelanding deck at low water level.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the rail fastener with extender thatattaches the flexible barrier to the landing deck and ensures that thebarrier stays within a defined distance from the edge of the landingdeck.

FIG. 6 is shows how guiding ropes or wires hold the barrier in place andact as support to the barrier function of the flexible barrier at normalwater level.

FIG. 7 is shows how guiding ropes or wires hold the barrier in place andact as support to the barrier function of the flexible barrier at lowwater level.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment are provided herein.It is to be understood, however, that the present invention may beembodied in various forms. Therefore, specific details disclosed hereinare not to be interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for theclaims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the artto employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailedsystem, structure or manner.

Turning first to FIG. 1 there is shown a schematic view of a landingdeck (2) with a floating dock (3) held in place by dock brackets (17) toillustrate the safety hazard addressed by this invention. The verticalgap (1) between landing deck (2) and floating dock (3) varies dependingon water level (4) and vertical movement caused by waves or suddenweight shifts on the floating dock (3). Whenever the upper edge of thefloating dock (3) comes close to, or passes the lower edge of thelanding deck (2), any object (5) that extends over the edge of thefloating dock (3) is at risk to be caught in a scissor-like movement ofthe two structures as shown in FIG. 1 which may result in serious injuryor death.

In accordance with the present invention, FIG. 2 shows the design ofthis safety barrier which addresses this safety hazard. A flexiblebarrier (6) attached to the landing deck (2) effectively covers the gap(1) between landing deck (2) and floating dock (3). The flexible barrier(6) may be a sturdy, but flexible fabric, membrane, thick foil, mesh ornet. Depending on the type of skirt, material such as tarp or rubber maybe used. Metal is an option if the deck skirt is a flexible mesh or net.The flexible barrier (6) functions both as physical barrier to hold backobjects and as visual warning signal for people getting too close to ahazardous area. The invention offers options to increase the barrierfunction of the device. In its most basic version, a lightweightflexible barrier (6) is mounted to the edge of the landing deck (2) bymeans of a fastening device (7) and held down by weights (8) embedded orattached to the lower end of the flexible barrier (6). Depending on thestiffness of the flexible barrier (6) and amount of weights (8) used,this version of the flexible barrier (6) will be able to block and holdback small objects (5) from getting too close to the gap (1) betweenlanding deck (2) and floating dock (3).

Turning to FIG. 3, it is shown that the flexible barrier (6) is mountedto the landing deck (2) via a fastening device (7) that affixes theflexible barrier (6) and holds an extender (11) which ensures that thebarrier (6) extends a certain distance A (9) from the edge of thelanding deck (2). Distance A (9) has to be bigger than distance B (10)to ensure that the flexible barrier (6) always rests on the floatingdock (3) and is held in place by weights (8). The extender (11), iseither elastic or hinged in such way that it does not interfere withvertical movement of the floating dock (3). The fastening device (7) canattach the flexible barrier (6) to the landing deck (2) at as manylocations as needed to securely hold the barrier (6) in place as shownin FIG. 3. By means of using a fastening device (7) with an extender(11) and weights (8) the flexible barrier (6) will settle back on thefloating dock (3) after separation from the floating dock (3) due to lowwater levels or movement caused by larger waves.

Turning to FIG. 4, it is shown how the flexible barrier (6) is held inposition above the floating dock (3) at a distance A (9) from thelanding deck (2) by the extender (11) and the weights (8) at low waterlevels even when not in contact with the floating dock (3). The distanceC (20) between the lower surface of the landing deck (3) and the end ofthe flexible barrier (6) is the design safety limit which is specificfor a location on a river or lake. Low water levels may cause thefloating dock (3) to be for example at a distance D (19) outside thedesign safety limit (20). At this point typical and regular verticalmovement of the floating dock (3) does not pose a hazard since thedistance D (19) is too big for the landing deck (2) and the floatingdock (3) to form a scissor-like contraption.

Another embodiment of this fastening device under this invention isshown in FIG. 5 where the flexible barrier (6) is attached to thelanding deck (2) with a fastener in the form of a rail (7), that runspartially or fully along the landing deck (2). This fastener (7) isattached to the landing deck (2) for example with screws, bolts, orclamps and holds the flexible barrier (6) in place. The flexible barrier(6) is fed through an opening (18) in the fastener (7) and secured inplace by a rod (13) inside a pocket (14) of the flexible barrier (6).Round shaped flexible material, the extender (11), is affixed to thefastener (7) via the extender base (12), runs under the flexible barrier(6) and keeps it at a defined distance A (9) from the edge of thelanding deck (2). The material of the extender (11) is flexible enoughnot to block vertical movement of the floating dock (3), but sturdyenough to keep the flexible barrier at the desired distance A (9) fromthe floating dock (2). The distance B (10) between the edges of thelanding deck (2) and floating dock (3) defines the minimum size of theextender (11).

The flexible barrier can be strenghtened by using a combination ofelastic ropes (16) that are attached to the landing deck (2) andfloating dock (3) and run through the flexible barrier (6) as shown inFIG. 6. The function of these guiding ropes (16) is twofold, i.e. (a)they act as guides for the flexible barrier (6) to keep it in place and(b) they strengthen the barrier function of the whole installation. Thebarrier function of the flexible barrier (6) can be modified by changingthe number and thickness of guiding ropes (16). In accordance with animportant feature of the present invention, there is shown in FIG. 6,how elastic guiding wires or ropes (16) running between landing deck (2)and floating dock (3) both guide the flexible barrier (6) into a definedarea on the floating dock (3) and act as restraining device. Weights (8)attached to or embedded in the bottom of the flexible barrier (6) ensurethat it rests on the surface of the floating dock (3) at all timeswithin the design safety limit of the flexible barrier (6).

Turning to FIG. 7, it is shown how the flexible barrier (6) is held inposition above the floating dock (3) by the guiding ropes (16) at lowwater levels even when not in contact with the floating dock (3).Weights (8) ensure that the flexible barrier (6) extends fully andcovers the distance C (20) between the lower surface of the landing deck(3) and the end of the flexible barrier (6). The distance C (20), thedesign safety limit, depends on typical changes of water levels and isspecific for a location on a river or lake. Low water levels cause thefloating dock (3) to be for example at a distance D (19) outside thedesign safety limit (20). At this point typical and regular verticalmovement of the floating dock (3) does not pose a hazard since thelanding deck (2) and the floating dock (3) can't form a scissor-likecontraption at the distance D (19).

While the invention has been described in connection with a preferredembodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention tothe particular form set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended tocover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may beincluded within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An article of manufacture for improving thesafety on floating docks comprising: a barrier affixed to the landingdeck; a fastening mechanism to mount the barrier to the landing deck;weights affixed to, or embedded into, the bottom part of the barrier toensure contact with the floating dock; and guiding devices affixed tolanding deck and floating dock to ensure that the barrier will alwaysreconnect with the floating dock in case of separation.
 2. The barrierof claim 1 wherein the barrier is made of flexible material.
 3. Thebarrier of claim 2 wherein the material is textile fabric, impregnatedtextile fabric, plastic membranes, flexible composite material, or metalmesh.
 4. The barrier of claim 3 wherein the barrier material is coloredor patterned.
 5. The fastening mechanism of claim 1 wherein the fasteneris a hook, clip, screw, nail or bolt.
 6. The fastening mechanism ofclaim 1 wherein the fastener is a rail.
 7. The fastening mechanism ofclaim 1 wherein the fastener includes an extender that ensures a minimumdistance of deck and barrier.
 8. The extender of claim 7 wherein theextender is made of flexible material such as rubber, plastic, plasticfoam, or rubber or plastic tubes.
 9. The extender of claim 8 wherein theextender has a round shape
 10. The weights of claim 1 wherein theweights are in compartments, embedded in, or are attached to the bottomof the barrier.
 11. The weights of claim 10 wherein the weights areliquids, sand, gravel, stones, or metal in the form of pellets, rods,disc and other shapes.
 12. The guiding devices of claim 1 wherein thesedevices are elastic ropes, cords or wires.
 13. The guiding devices ofclaim 12 wherein the device material is colored or patterned.